Screwdriver or the like



C. S.AANDH'EWS. SCREWDRIVER 0R THE LIKE. f APPLICATION FlLEDvAUG-ZB 19.16.

- l Pammd www MPM @23m/cf CARLUS S. ANDREWS, @F CEICLGG, mlhmm.

SCREWDRIVER 0B THE m.

Specication of Lettera lEetent.

Patenten nay ic. i921.;

Application llled August 28, 1915. crlal Ho. 117,207.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it lrnown that l, Cantos S. Annnnws, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of lllinois, have invented a certain new and useful lmprovement in Screwdrivers or the like, ofwhich thefollowing is a full, clear,

concise, and exactvdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to screw drivers and similar tools.v

'lhe principal object of the invention 1s to provide a screw driver or other similar tool With magnetic qualities so that itcan hold a screw orfsimllar article in position to be inserted, and thereby avoid the necessity of holding such article by the fingers.

A further object of the lnventi'onv is to provide a practical and economic arrangement for providing the magnetic qualities aforesaid. A

Other objects of the invention'will lappear and be set forth hereinafter.

ln the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section ot a screw driver embodying my present invention;

'Fig 2 is a longitudinal section on an en-l larged scale of a portion of lthe same;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of such portion; e Fig. l is a view of a detail of construction;

Fi s. 5 and are views of a modified form 4ot" said detail.

ln the drawings l show a screw driver havin a handle 1 and a` shank 2. Thehandle 1 '1s preferably made hollow or tubular and contains an electric battery 3. rlhc end d of said handle is made detachable as by a screw threaded connection 5 with the main portion of the handle so that said end 4 may be detached to permit the removal of the electric batter 3 'and the replacement of the same or o another battery of the same hind. rllhe-handle end 4 is provided with a lspring 6 by which the battery 3 is pushed ment 9 which lits against the end .of the handle 1 so that said head 7 serves as a closure and cover tor the end of said handle 1. A coil 10 of ne wire is shown wound about Vthe shank 2 near the head 7. Said coil 10 has a sucient length of proper sized wire to cause the magnetization of the shanlr 2 by the battery 3 when the current vof said battery is passed through' said coil. As a convenient arrangement the lcoil 10` is made in more or less conical form and 1s inclosed in e a case or sheath 11.

rlhe arrangement is preferably such that v the battery 3 may be connected and disconnected with the coilA 10 so as to lenergize and denergize said coil and thereby magnetize the shank 2 and discontinue the magdevice 12 havin' a contact surface 13 on the inner side ov said handle making con.

tact with the metal sheath 3a of the battery 3, and thereby with one pole of same. @ne endvll of the coil 10 is led to ascrew 15 which holds another contact plate 16 in position. Ajmetal slide17 is arranged to slide upon a in 18 and is. so constructed that when shlfted tothe right, as shown in Fig. 2, it vwill extend from .the contact plate 12 to the contact plate 16y and thereby make soL connection between the same. When, howl ever, said slide 17 is shifted to the left, its right hand end will separate from the contact plate 16, and thereby open the'side of the circuit formed'by said contact plates and the screw 15 and conductor 1l, it'being understood that the end of the conductor 1l is well insulated from the head 7, as for example by embedding it in insulating material 20. 'lhe other side of the circuit is made by connecting the other end 21 of the coil 10 to the metal headv 7, said head being in contact With the vother pole 22 of the battery 3. llhus it will be seen that by shifting the slide or switch 17 the coil 10 Amay be energized, thereby magnetizing the shank 2, and by shiftl the switch or slide 17 the other way the circuit of the coil 10 will be broken and said coilfwill no, longer be energized. Uf course some residual mag-.

netism will remain in the shank 2 for each energization thereof.

Thus it Will be seen that by energizing the coil 10 and magnetizing the shank 2,

the latter may be caused to hold a screw 23, as shown in Fig. 1, and the necessity of holding said screw in the hand reparatory to insert' it is avoided.V With the screw thus heldlthe screw driver may be turned so as to insert the screw as far as possible.

, As a matter of further importance the end 2 of the shank 2 is preferably enlarged as shown in Fig. 1 and provided with a straight cross face 2b, which will provide a shoulder or abutment, a inst which the 'head of the screw may t'. The bladel 24 of the screw driver projects from the shoulder or face 2b. Thus there is provided a head or end for the shank 2 which will form an enlarged pole for the magnet provided by said shank and will at the same time form a broad surface to secure contact with the entire head of the screw and thereb prevent the Screw from fallin or inc inin downwardly even though he d in position the ma etism of the shank 2.

In Figs. 5 an 6 I show a modified construction of head l25 havin a concave'socket 26 to' receive the convex ead of a' screw. The blade 27 isA to engage the slot 1n the screw head as in the other type of device.

It vwill be understood that while I show the invention as applied to a screw driver, itv ilnay also be applied to other kinds of too s.

It will further be understood that changes and modications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A screw driver lhaving a shank lplrovided with a magnetizing coil and a ho ow handle containing a battery for energizing said coil. f

` 2. A screw driver comprisi in combination a tubular handle, a sha having an enlarged end fitting into one end of said tubular handle and forming a closure therefor, an electric battery in said handle and a magnetizing coil on said shank.

3. zA screw driver comprising a shank rovlded with a ma etizing coil, and a ollow handle contaming a battery, said shank having an enlarged end for engagement with a screw.

4. A screw driver comprising a shank provided with a magnetizing coil, and a hollow handle containing a battery-,said shank having an enlarged end for engagement with a screw, said enlarged end havin a broad face for engagement with the entire surface of the screw head, and a blade projecting from said surface.

`5. A screw driver comprising a hollow:

handle containin an electric battery, one

end of said hand e being removable to peri mit removal of the battery, la shank havlng an enlarged head tting lnto and closing the other end of said handle, a coil surrounding the end of said shank nearest said handle, said coil being in conical form, and a conical sheath over said coil.

Inwitness whereof, I hereunto subscribe.

my name thisl 30th day of March, A. D.

\ VCARLO-S S. ANDREWS.

Witnesses:

A. LYDA JONES, HAzEL A. JONES. 

